


so i'll follow my girl, 'til i find myself a sense of direction

by knubtastick



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: F/F, and dina being a girl who knows what she wants and how to get it, i love these two and i really cant wait to see them in-game, just ellie being her oblivious self, just two gays making it in the apocolypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-24 11:06:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20906636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knubtastick/pseuds/knubtastick
Summary: Ellie probably wouldn’t die at the hands of bandits, infected, or the elements. No, Dina would probably be the death of her long before then.Just some one-shots of ellie and dina from tlou2 to hopefully tide us over until the game comes out in february.





	1. i can be so cool, but now i don't seem it

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I'm just super stoked for this game and these two so I'm diving into the fandom headfirst. Feel free to prompt me in the comments here or over on tumblr at knubtastick if you want to. Whatever floats your boat my dudes.
> 
> Title comes from The Japanese House

The Jackson settlement had a good thing going. Between its sturdy walls and its hot water, Ellie was low on complaints. Even the occasional bandit raid at the dam wasn’t a source of strife for the girl. If anything, it provided a bit of excitement to the daily routine, not that Ellie was short on things to do. With Joel in tow, she had finally found a place to call home. She had a pillow to rest her head on each night, a mostly solid roof over her head, and warm food to sate her appetite. Surrounded by people she got on well enough with, Ellie dared to consider herself _happy_ these days.__

_ __ _

_ __ _

Having Tommy, the settlement’s leader, as her quasi-uncle, came with benefits and drawbacks. Jackson’s other residents were more open to her presence, some even going out of their way to introduce themselves. But it also meant that she was given the more arduous tasks after Tommy vouched for her character and work ethic.

It was late in the afternoon and Ellie was hunched over one of the dam generator’s open panels, wrench in hand, as she attempted to retighten a cog that had come loose. The building, if you could even call it that, that housed the mechanism was beyond filthy. Every surface was covered in a thick layer of dust and the floors were littered with the mud that she had tracked in on her boots from the storm that passed through the night before. Most of the room’s windows were broken, allowing the outside humidity to permeate the place, making every lungful of air stagnant and stale.

Grabbing one of the sleeves of her flannel that she had fastened around her waist, Ellie wiped at the sheen of sweat that coated her forehead. Her upper body was left in just a grimy tank top. Ellie grimaced down at the state of herself briefly before getting back to work. She had been trying to fix up the town’s hydroelectric dam for a couple hours now. It appeared that a couple pieces had been rattled to the point that they disconnected. Without the dam being operational, the whole town was left without water for the time being. The process was exhausting in part to the sweltering heat and also to Ellie’s limited knowledge on waterworks. Panting heavily, even Buckley appeared to be struggling through the midday spike in temperature. Reaching out, she scratched at the dog’s chin, who let out a low whine at the attention.

“We’re almost done boy, I promise,” Ellie spoke quietly to the canine sitting at her side.

Jesse released a weighted groan from where he leaned against the doorway to the generator room, “A man sure can dream.”

Unceasing in her adjustments to the machine, Ellie shot back over her shoulder with a grin, “If you’d like to switch places, be my guest.”

“No thanks, I think I’m good. I wouldn’t know where the hell to start with that thing anyways,” Jesse offered back with a shrug, causing the rifle strapped over his shoulder to start to slip. He tucked it snugly back into place. “I think I make a much better lookout, wouldn’t you agree?”

Ellie chuckled to herself, “No, I wouldn’t say that I do. You’re too busy watching me do all the work.”

Jesse let out a bark of a laugh, “Fair enough.”

The walkie-talkie clipped to his belt emitted a static hiss before a voice broke through, “Are you two almost done? Momma needs a shower. I’ve got sweat in places I didn’t even know I had.”

Ellie would recognize that voice anywhere. And she does not need the torment of associating its owner with the concept of showering. Aggressively shaking her head, the freckled girl shook free any possible visualizations and decided it best not to respond to the caller on the radio.

“At the rate she’s going, we’ll all be as gray as Joel by the time she’s done,” Jesse spoke into the walkie as he continued to watch her work. “I’m sure things would move along a lot more quickly if Ellie here had another set of hands.”

“You know I’m always happy to use my hands, especially when Ellie’s involved.”

Jesse scrunched his face in disgust, “Could you at least wait to get your freak on until after I’m not around?”

Hoping her blush would be received as nothing more than a side-effect of the blistering weather, Ellie reared her head around, “There’s nothing freaky going on and you know it.” She wasn’t entirely sure whether she was speaking to Jesse, the radio, or both.

“Oh Ellie. How could you deny our undying love for one another in front of the masses?” The voice spoke incredulously through the crackle of the walkie. There was an echo-like quality to the words, as if the speaker was close by.

“First off, the only undying thing around here wants to eat us. Second, I’m not denying anything, I’m just telling the truth. And thirdly, the last time I checked, Jesse was the only captive audience member we’ve got,” Ellie argued easily. She wasn’t surprised when Dina suddenly strolled through the entryway of the generator building like she owned the place.

“Don’t forget Buckley,” the dark haired girl chided with a smug smirk.

Ellie rolled her eyes at the visitor, “Of course. How dare I forget the dog.”

“Who’d have guessed we’d be graced with the presence of the royal highness herself,” Jesse greeted Dina with a mock bow.

She raised her nose haughtily in the air, “You are welcome peasants.”

“I thought you were gonna be stuck in the med bay all day,” Jesse questioned.

Dina beamed with pride, “I was, but Maria decided I was doing a good enough job and I deserved a break.”

“So you came up here?” Jesse questioned cynically. “There’s nothin’ to do but melt.”

Ellie looked unimpressed. “While you two keep fooling around, I’m gonna try to actually get something done.”

Raising an eyebrow, Dina looked up and down Ellie’s figure appreciatively, “You know what, there’s no rush. If you don’t do a thorough job, you’ll just have to head up here in another couple days to fix it all over again. So please, take your time.”

Ellie gaped like a fish, feeling her neck flush at the shameless onceover Dina gave her. “I, uh, could you grab that flashlight and hold it over here so I can see?” She floundered for a distraction.

Slowly, Dina stalked over to the tool bag that sat on a nearby table. “And be able to see the show up close? You don’t have to ask me twice.” She glanced at Ellie’s arms pointedly before walking over and aiming the light where it was needed.

Dina was looming so closely over Ellie’s shoulder that they were practically touching. Ellie could feel on the side of her face the puff of every inhale and exhale the darker haired girl made. It sent some of the errant wisps of auburn hair at her temple fluttering.

Jesse cleared his throat awkwardly before speaking up, “I’m gonna go do a sweep outside and make sure that there’s no bandits lurking around. I’ll have my walkie on me if you need me.” Dina sent a half-hearted salute his way before he walked out.

“Why do you always do that?” Ellie wondered aloud.

“Do what?” Dina asked with an air of false innocence.

The taller girl shut it down swiftly, “Nuh-uh. Don’t play all naïve with me. I know you too well to fall for that.”

“My dear Ellie, I have no idea what you’re referring to,” Dina responded, batting her lashes down at her dramatically. She was fighting back a smile and she was on the verge of losing that particular battle.

Ellie studied the other girl’s features, lost in the moment, as the pair’s faces were closer than they usually ever were. At this proximity, Ellie could clearly make out the dusting of freckles under her eyes and on her nose. They weren’t as prominent as her own, but still. In her haze, Ellie nearly missed the triumphant look that blazed in the dark brown eyes before her.

“You’re so easy,” Dina teased, eyes wrinkled at the corners as she scrunched them in mirth.

Realizing too late the trap that she had fallen into, Ellie shoved at the girl. Not so rough as to hurt her, but enough to put a little distance in between them again. “You’re a dick.”

Dina didn’t miss a beat, suggestive smirk on her face as she moved back into Ellie’s personal space under the guise of helping, “Hm, my anatomy would beg to differ.”

Ellie really didn’t need to be hearing words like anatomy and beg coming from Dina’s mouth. There was nothing safe about that. Trying to maintain some semblance of dignity, she grumbled out, “Keep it up and the whole town’s gonna think we’re dating.”

Hovering ever closer, Dina’s smile grew challenging, “And what’s so bad about that?”

Ellie was both terrified and enthralled by the lighting bolt of a shiver that ran down her spine at the look she was receiving. A shimmer danced among Dina’s eyes and her cheeks were full from the open-mouthed grin threatening to split her face. You’d think after the numerous years that she’d known Dina, that she’d be used to the flirtatious jokes and the never-ending innuendos. Yet to absolutely no one’s shock and awe, Ellie’s still as off-kilter by her words and her knowing looks as she was the first day they met.

Ellie spoke with an air of nonchalance to combat her frazzled state, “Oh, I dunno. Maybe the fact that we’re not dating? Just a guess.” She hoped that her dry tone would hide the fact that she felt like she was unraveling under the other girl’s attentive eye.

She was all but done with her repairs when Ellie ran into a rather rusted bolt. The coat of orange-brown surrounding its top was so thick that she had to scratch away at some of it so that the wrench could get a proper hold. Using the shoulder farthest from Dina, she pushed away a few strands of hair that had fallen in front of her face. It took a few hard tugs, but Ellie eventually turned the bolt back into place. It wasn’t until all she could hear was Buckley’s panting and her own labored breathing that Ellie noticed Dina was being uncharacteristically quiet. Searching to her right, she found a dark pair of eyes glued to her exposed arms.

“Earth to Dina. I’m done. We can go back now,” Ellie called out.

Stirred from her trance, Dina looked up, “Damn Ellie. That was hot.”

“It is pretty hot in here, yeah,” Ellie answered with a self-conscious chuckle.

Dina placed a soft, warm palm atop Ellie’s sweat-covered bicep. Speaking in a melodramatically breathy whisper, she said, “Seeing you go all brawny mechanic is doing things to me.”

Ellie scoffed, fighting back another blush, “Alright horndog, are you ready to go or what?”

“I would, but the sight of you has left me faint! I don’t know that I’ll be able to make it all the way back all on my own,” Dina confessed, bringing the back of her hand up to cover her forehead theatrically.

Ellie watched the display in equal parts wonder and annoyance, “Do you ever, like, not?” She rolled her eyes. “If you wanted me to carry you, all you had to do was ask, dork.”

Delighted at the offer, Dina dropped the act and ran around to stand behind Ellie. She was about to jump on when the auburn girl interrupted her, “Hold on a second, Dina. I’ve gotta grab my tools first.”

Dina grinned and fanned at herself while Ellie went about collecting her things and picking up her bag, “Tools. I love it when you talk to me like that.”

Resisting another eye-roll, Ellie turned her back to the other girl and grunted out, “You. Back. On.”

A peal of giggles erupted from Dina, “I love my little caveman.” Ellie tried not to focus on the use of the word love as the shorter girl hopped up on her back. She gripped her hands on the undersides of Dina’s thighs, where they wrapped around Ellie’s hips. Once Ellie was sure that the girl was balanced and that she had a firm hold on her and the tool bag, she started walking out of the building. Buckley followed after them, just as happy to leave.

“Town. Go,” Ellie directed in a deep voice.

Dina only giggled further as she tightened her arms’ hold around Ellie’s neck. “You’re an idiot.”

“An idiot that could drop you,” Ellie cautioned, loosening her grip on her legs just the slightest.

Dina leaned in and whispered into her ear, “Now who’s the dick?”

Ellie nearly tripped over her own feet at the breath that tickled the shell of her ear. Buckley even noticed her wobbly stride as the dog strayed farther away from her to avoid being crushed.

Splaying one of her hands over Ellie’s sternum, Dina teased, “Okay Hercules, don’t overdo it and send us toppling over.”

Ellie mumbled incoherently, embarrassed and at a loss on how to defend herself. This only made her passenger giggle more, albeit softly. The two noticed Jesse making his way up the path towards them.

“Seriously? She’s out here for like ten minutes tops and she gets a piggyback ride but I get nothing?” Jesse whines.

Dina smushed the side of her face into Ellie’s, “Get your own Ellie and then you can get all the piggyback rides you like, but this one’s mine.”

“Technically, we were friends first,” Jesse pointed out with a glance at Ellie.

“Yeah, but we’re best friends now,” Dina countered, nuzzling into the crook where Ellie’s shoulder met her neck. The freckled girl had to breathe in deeply from her nose before she spoke again, feeling mildly overwhelmed by Dina’s koala-like tendencies.

“The only friend that matters to me right now is the shower waiting for me at home.”

Both Jesse and Dina looked at her in utter betrayal.

“How could you Ellie? After all that we’ve been through?” Jesse asked disbelievingly.

Dina cut him off, indignant at his words, “All that you’ve been through? What about us?”

Giving one of her better eyerolls, Ellie piped in, “You’re both great, but I don’t think either of you can rid me of all this sweat. My shower, on the other hand-”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”

That was all the warning Ellie got before Dina lifted her head and left a broad stroke of her tongue over the taller girl’s sweat-slicked cheek.

Shrinking away from the dark haired girl, Ellie shrieked, “Ew! Dina! Why would you do that?”

Both Jesse and Dina were laughing as Dina reasoned, “I just wanted you to know what you were missing. Ya know, if that shower ever gets boring.”

Ellie probably wouldn’t die at the hands of bandits, infected, or the elements. No, Dina would probably be the death of her long before then.


	2. we don't touch anymore, but we talk all the time so it's fine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ellie and Dina have some communication issues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i guess?? this is my attempt at getting spicy? i'm not sure??? just have it i guess, lol. personally, i think it's pretty tame, but whatevs. i know i could ramp things up a bit more but i was tired so i ended the chap early. i'll skip the exposition and get straight to it for you guys the next time i write something like this. let me know how it reads pals. as always, thanks for reading!
> 
> chapter title comes from We Talk All The Time by The Japanese House

Ellie was so confused. She had no idea when things had changed or why. One day, Dina and her were as close as could be, then the next, she was at the receiving end of strained conversations and half-hearted banter. It was disarming, to say the least. It wasn’t that Dina was ignoring her particularly, but there was a sense of detachment to their interactions recently.

For example, if Ellie cracked a joke or tossed out a sarcastic jibe, Dina’s laughter sounded a little too forced to her ears. Like she was pushing through it for Ellie’s sake. The typical twinkle of delight that Dina’s eyes held when they spoke wasn’t there anymore.

And it felt like it had been ages since it had been just the two of them. Whether they were walking to the canteen for a briefing of their daily schedules or they were having some down time after a long day’s work, there was always at least one other person acting as a buffer between them.

More times than not, either Yara or Lev, sometimes both, would be with them. The siblings had joined the compound a few months back after escaping the clutches of the Seraphites. They were a group of fanatics that the townsfolk only ever whispered about when the sky was dark and people were safely tucked away behind locked doors and solid walls.

Lev practically worshipped Ellie, something even she couldn’t deny. When the younger boy first arrived, he was quiet and suspicious of anyone who wasn’t his sister. One afternoon he came across Ellie while she was having her own make-shift target practice with her bow. The boy lit up at the sight of her arrows hitting bullseye after bullseye as she dodged from one place of cover to the next. Ellie could remember the pure awe that flashed across his features that day, like it was yesterday. He immediately showed her his own weapon of choice after she finished her drills. Since then, the kid rarely left her side. He liked to refer to them as bow-buddies. It was sweet, most of the time. His sister, Yara, just seemed content to finally have a place where she could feel some semblance of safety. That and she appeared to enjoy chiming in whenever Dina decided to make Ellie the butt of a joke.

Whenever the siblings were on patrol or otherwise preoccupied, it was a begrudging Jesse that was tangled up in Ellie and Dina’s stunted tension. Those times were the worst. All it took was an odd look or a misplaced word and Dina would go off on him. Those two still had their own problems to work out since their break-up.

The point was, Ellie felt like she never got to spend much time alone with her best friend anymore. She saw her every day, but it wasn’t the same. Ellie was used to sneaking off with Dina late into the night. Sometimes to stargaze, other times just to talk. She missed it. She missed her.

Then there was the touching. Dina had always been a firm nonbeliever in personal space, if the past was any indication. She was usually touching Ellie in some way when they were together. She’d rest her fingers at the crook of Ellie’s arm when they walked. Or she’d sweep a hand through Ellie’s hair, constantly trying to tame the one errant lock that seemed to defy gravity, always dangling right over Ellie’s left eye. And whenever Ellie sat down at a comfortable distance from Dina, she never failed to find a way to close the gap. Eventually, Dina would sink so fully into the taller girl, to the point that she could and would rest her head on Ellie’s shoulder. The physical closeness regularly sent Ellie into a mental tailspin, in the most conflicting of ways. It was its own kind of torture. Searing her skin on the outside but leaving her buzzing with a pleasant warmth on the inside.

It was late into the night, most already sound asleep, and Ellie brought herself to a halt outside, just beneath Dina’s bedroom window. She had found herself in a similar position a few nights back, with the goal of getting the other girl to join her on a midnight escapade, to no avail. But tonight, Ellie wouldn’t take no for an answer. If Dina did refuse, then Ellie would demand an explanation. She had had enough of this removed side of Dina.

Releasing a heavy exhale, Ellie crept up to the windowpane and rapped her rough knuckles on the glass a couple times. Within seconds the latches to the window began to shift, someone unlocking them from the inside. Pushing the window up and open, its frame creaking in protest the entire way, Dina poked her head out into the night air.

“Ellie? What are you doing here?” she husked.

For a moment, Ellie got wrapped up in the cute way that Dina blinked the sleep out of her eyes. She never would have guessed that the other girl had already tucked in for the night. Dina was normally such a night owl. Ellie felt a little guilty for waking her, but not enough to backtrack.

With an earnest smile, Ellie offered, “I wanted to see if you would go for a walk with me.”

Dina looked down into pleading pools of green, “Ellie…you know I’d love to, but…Tommy’s really been cracking down on those night patrols and I really can’t afford to get on his bad side at the moment.” She smiled apologetically, “Maybe another time?”

Ellie heard the words for what they were. Empty. Hollow. Excuses. She was irritated at being dismissed so easily again. Irritated enough to confront a tired Dina, which was never a smart choice.

“That’s what you told me last time. Did I do something? Cause I’ve tried to figure it out, but I just can’t seem to get why you’re being like this with me,” Her green irises burned with a rage simmering right under the surface.

“Being like what, exactly?” Dina asked, all traces of sleep gone from her voice. Her tone was harsh, her brow furrowed with a deep kind of indignance. It was as if she had been waiting on a confrontation like this. Like she had been counting on the weakly constructed dam that held Ellie’s frustrations at bay to burst all along.

“Damn it, Dina. You know exactly what I’m talking about,” Ellie sharply accused. She was exhausted with these mind games. She just wanted the truth.

Dina arched her left brow, daring the auburn girl to elaborate, “Why don’t you share it with the class anyways, Ellie.”

“You’ve been acting weird with me since…since I don’t know when! What I do know is that it’s unfair.”

“Unfair?” Dina nearly squawked back, as if the whole thing was just one big joke.

Anger bubbling closer to the surface with every word, Ellie countered with a quiet intensity, “Yes, Dina. Unfair. You’re familiar with the term, right? That’s when someone or something isn’t being reciprocal. When things aren’t equal.” She swung out her arm to gesture vigorously between them.

The dark haired girl let loose a scoff so over the top that it only bolstered Ellie’s ire. She was opening her mouth to get her point across when Dina beat her to it, “If you really want to hash this out, maybe this isn’t the best place to do it. I wasn’t kidding when I said that Tommy’s upping the night patrols. If they hear either of us, there’s no telling what kind of punishment he’ll give us. I don’t know about you, but I don’t plan on finding out.”

Ellie flapped her mouth open and shut at the interruption. Was she being dismissed? Again? The fucking nerve of this girl.

“Are you gonna stand there like a fish out of water or are you gonna come inside?” Dina questioned, annoyance honing every word like a dull blade.

Like an idiot, Ellie could only repeat, “Inside?”

“Yes, Ellie. You clearly don’t plan on dropping this and I don’t want to deal with a lecture from your uncle. So, yes. Inside.” She sounded more resigned than anything now.

After a low protest of, “He’s not my uncle,” Ellie stomped from the bedroom window around to the front door of the house.

Dina was already waiting for her, holding the door open to let her in. As soon as Ellie made it up the stairs of the porch, Dina turned away from her and led them back to her bedroom. This was another one of the many times that Ellie was glad that Dina lived alone. Whenever Ellie wanted to go anywhere or wanted to have someone over, which was only ever Dina really, she had to get Joel’s seal of approval. But not here.

The pair were now in the bedroom. Dina sat at the edge of her bed and Ellie had pulled up a nearby chair. She settled into it backwards, so that she could rest her arms along the back of the chair. As if her body was on autopilot, her legs spread out in front of her so that she was as comfortable as the seating would allow.

“You were saying,” Dina prompted with a flourish of her hand.

The freckled girl felt a bit calmer already. Something about being in one of their spaces made her breathe a little easier. “I just…you’ve been different with me lately,” Ellie supplied lamely.

Dina was a bit more gentle in her approach than she was before, “Different how, Ellie?”

“For starters, you never hang out with me anymore,” Ellie stated dejectedly.

“What?” Dina asked incredulously. “We hang out every day practically.”

“Not on our own, we don’t.”

“Is it not okay to have other friends?” The accusation was finding its way into Dina’s tone again.

Ellie was quick to remedy the misunderstanding, “No. No, that’s not it. I love our friends, you know that.” She broke eye contact with the girl on the bed briefly as she glanced around the room for something else to look at, “It’s just that I kinda miss hanging out just us, ya know?”

“Well I’ll try to keep that in mind in the future.” It was as if Dina was just reading lines from a script. Like she was just saying the bare minimum of what she thought she was supposed to say.

But Ellie wasn’t done. “That’s not all. It’s like…It’s like you don’t even wanna touch me anymore.” She went bright red to the tips of her ears at the confession. Feeling embarrassed by her own words, Ellie stared down at her worn out Chucks while she continued. “When people found out about my bite, I learned what that kind of aversion felt like. People would walk down the other side of the street just to escape the possible risk of brushing up against me. They treated me like I was contagious, like I was some sort of fucking pariah.” Ellie’s voice cracked on her next words, “But you. You’ve never treated me like that. Since the day we met, you’ve always been the opposite. Even when I’d roll my eyes or push you away, you always reached out for me. You made me feel…normal.”

It wasn’t until Dina’s sock-clad foot nudged her own that Ellie looked back up. She felt captive to her stare, irises a rich mahogany like the boundless trees that covered the Wyoming wilds. It added to the untamable aura that was Dina’s very existence. In that moment, her eyes glowed with the softness of a fading flame. She was looking at Ellie with a level of understanding that the taller girl just couldn’t comprehend, face smooth with a sincerity that Ellie didn’t know how to handle. The moment was almost too much to bear.

“Do you remember the last time we went scouting on the outside together?” Dina inquired out of the blue.

Bewildered by the change of topic, Ellie took a second to process the question and respond, “Uh, yeah. That was a couple weeks ago. What about it?”

“Do you remember what happened?” Dina spoke knowingly, as if she had a point to this line of questioning.

“We ran into some not-so-friendly hunters,” Ellie remembered. She tacked on as an afterthought, “Not that there’s really such a thing as friendly hunters.”

Dina smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes, “Correct. And do you remember what happened when they noticed us?”

Scrubbing at her face roughly with her hands, Ellie groaned out, “I do, but what does this have to do with what I’m trying to talk to you about?”

“Just answer the question El.”

“I started yelling and led them away from you,” The freckled girl informed tiredly.

Dina leaned forward, coaxing the girl to carry on, “And then?”

“I really don’t see why you’re asking me about this,” Ellie huffed and threw her hands in Dina’s direction. “You were there! What do you need me to tell it for?”

Reaching out, Dina grasped one of the flailing hands. “Fine. I’ll finish it.” Her tongue darted out to wet her lips. “I remember you telling me to hide and you screaming like a madman as you ran in the other direction. You didn’t even give me a chance to consider the best course of action. You just decided. And like the stubborn asshole that you are, you took on all four of those hunters by yourself.” She shook her head in disbelief. “And as they laid dead at your feet, there you stood, covered in blood. I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t know if the blood was yours or if you were hurt.”

“But I wasn’t,” Ellie interrupted. “I only got a few cuts and bruises. It was nothin’ to worry about.”

“And yet,” Dina laughed self-deprecatingly, “that’s all I could do. I couldn’t stop worrying about you. From the second you left my line of sight with those hunters following right behind you, it felt like I couldn’t breathe I was so filled with worry.” The dark haired girl took ahold of Ellie’s other hand, so that she was squeezing both tightly. “I realized then, no matter what I called it or what I told myself, I love you. And I don’t think I could handle you not being here with me.” Dina sighed heavily. “I got scared by my own feelings so I pulled away from you. I needed time to process what I felt, time to figure out if it was even worth telling you about.”

Although she felt lost, Ellie grinned nonetheless, “I love you too.” That was a sentiment they would always share, she was sure of it.

Dina looked her straight in the eye, gaze sharp with an intensity Ellie had never seen cross her features before. “I don’t think you get what I’m saying Ellie. I love you.” She giggled a little manically after she said it. “It’s kind of a relief to say that out loud. But it’s a big and scary thing.”

Ellie couldn’t believe her ears. Was Dina saying that she loved her as in love-love? Like the real deal love? Couldn’t be. Could it? She vibrated with a buzz that started down in her bones and reverberated throughout the rest of her body, settling somewhere deep within her chest. Is this what elation felt like? Fighting her own happy-laughter, Ellie joked, “Living during an apocalypse and all, you’d think a four-letter word wouldn’t be so scary anymore.”

“Yeah, well, we can’t all be as brave as you,” Dina snarked with a blinding grin.

Ellie smiled over at her and squeezed the hands that were holding her own, “I wouldn’t say brave.”

Teasingly, Dina goaded, “Then what would The Great Ellie say?”

Scooching her chair in, Ellie leaned forward, “Maybe stupid?”

“How about reckless?” Dina offered, edging closer until they met in the middle.

Their foreheads met with a dull thud as their faces were overtaken with smiles so gooey, sickly-sweet they couldn’t be tampered.

“I think I can live with that,” Ellie accepted.

Dina's eyelids fluttered closed and she nuzzled her nose against Ellie’s, “Good thing you’ll have me there to keep you in line.”

“Good thing,” the taller girl mumbled out distractedly.

The two were close enough to kiss and it was all Ellie could think about. That and whether or not this was actually just a really vivid dream that she was about to wake up from at any moment. She found her gaze tracing the bow of Dina’s lips and the sparse freckles that dotted her cheeks.

“Ellie?”

“Hm?”

“Are you gonna kiss me or what?” Dina was so smug. From the crooked grin she wore to the raise of her brows. She was a woman who was confident of her intentions, unlike Ellie.

The taller girl huffed out a flimsy chuckle as she joked to disguise her nervousness, “Bossy. What a romantic.”

“I think I handle the romance department just fine. I just finished delivering a beautiful and passionate confession to you, if I do say so myself,” Dina pointed out assuredly.

Ellie felt the burning need to retrace her steps. To fall back on old habits. To familiar ground. So she mocked her best friend like the absolute casanova that she was, “You spent most of it nagging me. Confession my ass.”

Dina’s gaze turned hungry as she zeroed in on Ellie, “Just you wait, I’ve got plans for that ass, alright.”

Abruptly, Dina rose from her position on the bed. She unclasped their hands and trailed her fingers up Ellie’s arms as she moved around to the front of her chair. Ellie was helpless to follow, turning herself so that she was facing the correct way in her seat. Dina seamlessly slotted herself between Ellie’s legs as she began to play with the wisps of auburn hair at the base of her neck.

Gulping around the sudden lump in her throat, Ellie ventured, “Um, uh, what are you doing?”

“Shh, just relax. You’re capable of doing that from time to time, right?” Dina’s mouth curled upwards in a soft, indulgent smile. Gracefully, she lifted her legs so that she could settle on top of Ellie’s lap. Ellie felt various emotions battling within the confines of her body. The weight of the other girl settled on top of her felt nice, it felt right. But it also stirred the butterflies in her stomach tenfold. As if she could read her mind, Dina raised a hand to cradle Ellie’s cheek. “Breathe Ellie. It’s just me, remember?”

The freckled girl nodded weakly before releasing a rattling lungful of air. “I, uh, I just don’t wanna fuck this up. I haven’t done this in a while.” She tilted her head back and forth between them.

“What? Have a girl sit in your lap? I’m surprised. Have you seen you?” Dina sassed back with an amused lilt to her words.

Ellie’s eyes rolled skyward and she beamed as she clarified, “Uh, no. Not anytime lately. I kinda haven’t been on the market.” Dina peered at her in a way that encouraged her to expound on her logic. “I’ve sorta been dealing with my own feelings for someone else.”

In typical presumptuous Dina fashion, the other girl batted her eyelashes, “Whoever could you be speaking of? It’s not little ‘ol me, is it?”

“How much of an asshole would it make me if I told you no?” Ellie wondered aloud with a shit-eating grin.

Dina shoved at her shoulder, hard. “Enough of an asshole for me to kick you out.”

“Wow, after all we’ve shared, you’d still go and-”

Ellie’s comeback was stopped midway by a pair of lips crashing into her own. Dina had grabbed two fistfulls of Ellie’s collar and pulled her in for a searing kind of kiss. It was hot, rushed, and a little messy. Ellie hadn’t been expecting it, so she was slow on the uptake. When she did finally find her bearings, she was more than willing to comply. She gripped tightly at Dina’s waist, encouraging her to get closer. The way Dina surged in ever tighter, from the incessant press of her lips to the way her thighs strained against Ellie’s narrow hips, it was all the taller girl could do to keep from falling backwards. The old wooden chair beneath her creaked in its efforts not to collapse.

If Ellie thought they were in danger of falling before, she about near sent them toppling over when Dina decided to move a soft and searching palm under her shirt. The shorter girl smiled into their next kiss, as if this was all a part of her master plan. Ellie’s abdominal muscles went taut and trembled as fingers dropped feather-light touches over the skin. The auburn girl couldn’t hold back her groan, try as she might.

Using Herculean strength, Ellie managed to separate her mouth from Dina’s. Between ragged breaths, she advised, “Maybe, um, maybe we should get off this chair? I don’t think it’ll be able to hold our weight much longer.”

Dina narrowed her eyes warningly, “Are you calling me fat?” As Ellie was about to note the absurdity of such an observation, Dina let her off the hook. “Or…are you just trying to get me into bed?”

The freckled girl nearly choked on her own spit at that. “What? No. That’s not, I’m not-” She stopped her own bumbling in favor of hiding her face in Dina’s neck, which prompted the dark haired girl to release an unrestrained laugh from deep within her belly.

Rubbing her cheek against the top of Ellie’s head, Dina murmured, “My sweet, innocent Ellie. I know that’s not what you meant.” She wiggled her eyebrows as she spoke suggestively in a lower register, “Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be happy to oblige if you did.”

“Why do you keep doing this to me?” Ellie whined from her hiding place.

“Do you want me to stop?” Dina asked seriously.

Ellie’s head shot up as she pulled back to have green directly meet brown, “No.” There was a steel-like quality to that one word that emphasized her conviction.

Dina appeared to enjoy the change in demeanor. A mischievous grin bloomed across her lips, “Why don’t you prove it then, Freckles.”

“Oh I plan to,” Ellie rasped out in a pitch much deeper than usual. The way it rumbled from the back of her throat like a cloud of thunder overhead stirred a shiver of anticipation down Dina’s spine.

In one smooth motion, Ellie had secured her hands under Dina’s thighs and effortlessly lifted her as she stood from the chair. Dina’s calves hooked behind her naturally and her arms curled around Ellie’s neck. “Get to it then,” Dina whispered invitingly.


End file.
